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Helen Compton renovates Priest Lake “resort” for WSC faculty and staff

President Wilson Compton and his wife Helen use their own money to purchase a 52 acre mostly-undeveloped “resort” on Priest Lake’s Beaver Creek, for the use of WSC faculty and staff.  Over the next few years Helen, with aid from her housekeeper Mary Warner, puts a significant amount of time and effort into renovating it.  Individual lots are sold to WSC faculty and staff, and the resort is organized as the Beaver Creek Camp Association.  As generations pass the BCCA’s ties to WSU have faded, but the Beaver Creek Camp Association still exists today on upper Priest Lake.

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Arthur Drucker, Dean of the School of Mines and Geology, donates the Minnie Barstow Drucker Oriental Art Collection to WSC

Arthur Drucker, Dean of the School of Mines and Geology, donates the Minnie Barstow Drucker Oriental Art Collection, valued then at $50,000. The gift is presented in the memory of his late wife. Eight years earlier, the Druckers donated a collection of over two hundred rare books on Asia to the WSC library. Arthur Drucker came to Pullman in 1926 and was heavily involved in mining research during his tenure at WSC, retiring in 1945.

 

Dean Drucker

WSU’s Anjan Bose and Jim Asay join the National Academy of Engineering

WSU’s Anjan Bose, an international expert in the power grid control industry, and Jim Asay, an expert in shock-wave research and high-pressure science, join The National Academy of Engineering.  Bose is internationally known for his development of training simulators and computational tools for reliable power-system operation, and for contributions to education and research on power systems.

 

 

The Board of Regents selects V. Lane Rawlins to serve as the ninth president of WSU

The Board of Regents selects V. Lane Rawlins to serve as the ninth president of WSU. He took office after serving as the president at University of Memphis. Rawlins was the first WSU faculty member to become president. He joined the economics faculty in 1968, later served as chair of the department of economics, and was WSU vice provost from 1982-86.

President Rawlins’ administration is best known for strengthening the WSU-UW relationship, giving the WSU branch campuses more autonomy, establishing December commencement, and Academic Showcase. He served as president until June 2007.

 

 

 

 

 

WSU Veterans Memorial finds home on campus

The WSU Veterans Memorial is dedicated on Veterans Day in 1993, honoring all alumni, faculty, and staff who died during 19th and 20th century conflicts. In 1996, the class of 1949, with help from former registrar James Quann, began a campaign to complete the memorial. It was rededicated on October 7, 2000.

Vogel receives the National Medal of Science for his work in wheat breeding

Orville Vogel (left) and President Gerald Ford
Orville Vogel (left) and President Gerald Ford

On October 18, 1976, President Gerald Ford presented the National Medal of Science to WSU Professor Emeritus, Orville Vogel. Vogel helped develop wheat varieties with stronger stalks and higher yield potential, which now grow on five continents. This research launched the “Green Revolution,” a push in agricultural research to help feed the world’s hungry. Vogel worked at WSU from 1931 to 1973, receiving his Ph.D. here in 1939.

WSU provides educational services in Jordan

WSU signs a pact with the Kingdom of Jordan to provide educational services. A team of twelve staff members (all but one from Pullman) traveled to Jordan to assist the creation of animal science, plant pathology, irrigation, agricultural marketing, and other programs, working with Jordanian students and faculty.

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WSC Creamery produces the first can of Cougar Gold Cheese

In the late 1930s, the WSC Creamery wanted to find a new way to store cheese. Wax cracked easily and plastic hadn’t been invented. The only option left was cans. In the 1940s, the U.S. Government and the American Can Company funded WSC’s research into storing cheese in cans.

An unexpected product of this research was Cougar Gold, an American cheddar named after Dr. N.S. Golding, one of the researchers.

The WSU Creamery continues to produce 250,000 cans of cheese a year, 80 percent of which are Cougar Gold. Cougar Gold has won multiple awards, including the World Cheese Awards Gold Medal in 2006 and makes great mac and cheese.

 

 

 

President Holland establishes a faculty and graduate student journal

Research Studies of the State College of Washington provides an avenue to publication for faculty and graduate students. The journal publishes a few issues before funding is cut due to the Great Depression. It is revived in 1935 and eventually becomes the WSU Press.

The Great Depression hammers WSC

As the Great Depression deepens, the college is forced to reduce the salaries of faculty and staff by an average of 25 percent in order to meet reduced state appropriations. The budget granted to WSC for 1933-1935 through the legislature’s “barefoot schoolboy” measures represents a cut of 36.5 percent over previous budgets.

Due to widespread unemployment, enrollment falls, allowing President Holland to close Ferry and Stevens residence halls in the spring of 1933 and keep them closed until September 1934, saving as much as $6,000. The library budget suffers a cut of 33% in the 1933-34 college budget.

For students, dropping out of school for a semester or two to earn money was a common practice throughout the ’30s. Typical part-time jobs for women often involved cleaning and babysitting in private homes, while male students worked on farms surrounding the college.

 

WSU archaeologists discover 12,000-year-old human remains

In 1962, WSU archeologists Richard Daugherty and Roald Fryxell began excavating the Marmes Rockshelter, near where the Snake and Palouse rivers meet. During the excavation, they found what was then the oldest human remains in the western hemisphere at approximately 12,000 years old.

The site was scheduled to be flooded during the construction of the Lower Monumental Dam, but thanks to the discovery President Lyndon Johnson authorized the construction of a coffer dam to protect it. Unfortunately, in 1969, the site was flooded anyway because of leaks under the dam. It had only been partially excavated.

 

Legendary coach Babe Hollingbery kicks off his Cougar career

Orin Ercel “Babe” Hollingbery begins a 17-year stint as head coach of the Cougar football team and earns legendary status in the process. He compiles a career win-loss record of 93–53–14, the most wins by any coach in Cougar football history. Under Hollingbery, Washington State goes undefeated at home from 1926 to 1935. He guides the team to the 1931 Rose Bowl against Alabama.

Hollingbery coaches some of the greatest names in Washington State history, including Turk Edwards, Mel Hein, Mel Dressel, Dale Gentry, Ed Goddard, Harold Ahlskog, Elmer Schwartz, Bob Kennedy, Nick Suseoff, Bill Sewell, John Bley, and Herbert “Butch” Meeker.

Hollingbery remains at WSC until World War II, when WSC temporarily ceases playing football.

Hollingbery Fieldhouse, built in 1929, and is renamed for the coach in 1963. In 1979, the College Football Hall of Fame selects him for membership.

 

Hollingberry shows a high kick during practice.
Hollingberry shows a high kick during practice.

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Home Ec building opens

The building opens with “all the latest in equipment.” Later it’s renamed White Hall in honor of Mary Elmina White, who served  33 years as a WSC cooperative extension leader. In 2000, White Hall is remodeled to include a 117-student, 67-room dormitory area for Honors Program students. White Hall is renamed Honors Hall in fall semester 2001.

The building covers a part of one of the university’s most significant open spaces, the original walk to Thompson Hall (former Old Administration Building) from Reaney Park. The brick building mass is symmetrically balanced, making a cross formation with the central section protruding on the east/west axis. The overall style of the building is Georgian Revival, which creates an elegant architectural statement.

 

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The college adds education programs

The coursework is introduced with the arrival of Alfred A. Cleveland, assistant professor of psychology. The 1909-1911 course catalog describes the purpose of the education program as training physical science teachers who will further the application of science to industrial pursuits.

Winners in first varsity football game

The college inaugurates the sport by defeating the University of Idaho, 10-0. The team doesn’t employ a paid coach until 1900, but advisers in the first couple years include newspaperman William Goodyear, agriculturalist William J. Spillman, and young athlete Fred Waite.

1894 team, reproduced in a 1934 40th Reunion Banquet brochure. Item held at WSU MASC, Collection WSU 31
1894 team, reproduced in a 1934 40th Reunion Banquet brochure. Item held at WSU’s MASC, Collection WSU 31
Pullman Herald, November 1894.
Pullman Herald, November 1894.